Chicago to Portland

[sammy332]

Originally Posted by philwithbeard

If you run out of money and become homeless, Portland is a harsh town. There are so many in that situation due in part to the Great Recession, sympathy has kind of dried up since before I got here.


City of Portland is made up of many neighborhoods, plus there are the suburbs within the Urban Growth Boundary; most 'burbs exist beyond Multnomah county. Typically, I would guess the Term 'close to Portland' would imply Outside of Portland city limits, but within the Urban Growth Boundary.
Link to City of Portland neighborhood maps:
Citywide Neighborhood Maps
(And no, I personally don't regard north across the Columbia River as being 'close' to Portland either by distance or community culture.)

IMO, only a few of the City of Portland neighborhoods has the infrastructure to support a fully functional carless lifestyle. At a bare minimum, 50% of the land mass of the City of Portland (at current city limits) is typical Car-Is-King suburbia. There are those who regard the moniker of Portland to mean only specific very urban parts of the City of Portland since the cultural 'vibe' between the rest of the metro Portland area and those specific trendy urban areas is so noticeable. The rest of Portland area is 'close to Portland' just like the 'burbs are.

(Aside: City of Portland has grown by the State of Oregon forcing the city to annex parts of Multnomah County way before I arrived here. The last round of annexation added a lot of Car-Is-King "Township" area into city of Portland. Far, Far SE parts of current city of Portland.)

Try this:
Google Zip Car.
Zipcar is car rental that goes by the hour. Zipcar has rented a special spots in private parking lots all around town. People reserve a Zipcar online, and are given a code or something that allows them to access the parked and waiting car.

Obviously, anywhere there is a Zipcar parking spot, that spot would be within walking distance of enough people for the Zipcar company to expect to make a profit.

Same with concentrations of bike paths. The more paths, the greater the expectation those paths are being used by very large number of cyclist daily (weather permitting). Apartment buildings will more likely have tried to resolve the issues around cycle storage and parking issues. And so on.

If you research you can find parts of neighborhoods that are easier to be carless, but understand that don't mean you will find an apartment in an area you want to live, and you like (approve of?) plus being available when you start looking --- Some very select neighborhoods have low population turn over, and when an apartment does become available, word of mouth and a posted sign on the building is all that is needed to rent the apartment. Some buildings downtown have waiting lists. No craigslist, not internet, no newspaper adds. And rent is supply / demand driven all over town.

Thanks for ur answer...this is very depressing though. I thought portland was gonna be great this looks awful to be honest.

[EnricoV]

Portland can easily be lived in, carless. But much of it depends on your lifestyle, what you expect, where you want to go and do, and how flexible you are on where you live. I have several friends who've lived carless just fine. Of course, living "in" town makes it a lot easier. And, of course, the internet and the ability to order most anything delivered to your door improves things a lot.

The key is making sure that wherever you live, groceries are nearby, and you can reach your place of work relatively easily. This website details which neighborhoods are more walkable than others. Common sense proves true. The closer you are to "downtown," the easier you can exist without a car. The downside to living in the center is that the "big box" type stores are all out on the fringes, as are the uber-discount groceries. You're going to pay more for your groceries downtown. Which, again, makes sense. Land is at more of a premium, and so costs are higher.

And I'm not sure what the "forced" annexation is all about. Portland has grown through the years, but I'm not aware of it ever being forced by the state. More often, it has seemed that the city has attempted to annex an area, but the residents fight it. A nice map highligting the annexations through the years is here.

[Minervah]

Originally Posted by EnricoV

Portland can easily be lived in, carless. But much of it depends on your lifestyle, what you expect, where you want to go and do, and how flexible you are on where you live. I have several friends who've lived carless just fine. Of course, living "in" town makes it a lot easier. And, of course, the internet and the ability to order most anything delivered to your door improves things a lot.

The key is making sure that wherever you live, groceries are nearby, and you can reach your place of work relatively easily. This website details which neighborhoods are more walkable than others. Common sense proves true. The closer you are to "downtown," the easier you can exist without a car. The downside to living in the center is that the "big box" type stores are all out on the fringes, as are the uber-discount groceries. You're going to pay more for your groceries downtown. Which, again, makes sense. Land is at more of a premium, and so costs are higher.

And I'm not sure what the "forced" annexation is all about. Portland has grown through the years, but I'm not aware of it ever being forced by the state. More often, it has seemed that the city has attempted to annex an area, but the residents fight it. A nice map highligting the annexations through the years is here.

Not as easy as it used to be but still doable. Keep in mind that bus or MAX service is scarce going North or South but going East or West is sufficient. In fact you will most likely have to travel East or West in order to get North or South. That may sound a but odd but that's the way the system works for the most part.

Choice of neighborhoods is crucial.

[nikki10]

We just relocated to Oregon about three and a half months ago (not to Portland, but to a college town in the Willamette Valley) from the Midwest, and to tell the truth I'm a bit homesick for the Midwest (we lived in a college town also in the Midwest).
Oregon is a very beautiful, scenic state-but I've just had a hard time finding my place. I find people here friendly, but hard to read. Really I'm quite lonely here. However in the Midwest I had a couple of good friends (not a load) that I hung out with and just felt totally comfortable with. I miss those friends dearly. Also as being a person of mixed racial heritage, I find that the diversity here is somewhat lacking, but being close to the college helps a little in that area.
Another thing is that the rainy season is a bit overwhelming here. In the Midwest it may snow a foot-and be 2 degrees, but at least the sun would come out during the week. Here it rains, and then rains some more-I'm adjusting however, by just keeping lights on as needed.
I do like the buy local emphasis here though, and a lot of people are into gardening and crafting (knitting, beer-making, sewing, CSA's etc.)
I know being here just a little over three months isn't adequate to really "know" a place, but right now it just doesn't seem like "home."
Really no place is perfect, so I suppose it just boils down to employment and which place suits your needs more. We have moved every three years-due to school, education-and really I'm getting tired of the moves-I want to put down some roots, but I'm still in the "dating Oregon" phase-no commitment yet .
Happy holidays.

[Ryant]

What was the college town in the Midwest? From Mankato here. A lot of midwesterners are out here actually.. We even run into people from Mankato.